America

“I light a cigarette
'Cause I can't get no sleep
Theres nothing on the TV nothing on the radio
That means that much to me
Theres nothing on the TV nothing on the radio
That I can believe in

All my life
Watching America
All my life
There's panic in America
Oh Oh Oh, Oh”

America – Razorlight

It was around this time last year when I got an itch to go on a solo travel adventure. There were many places I considered going, like Southeast Asia and Europe, but ultimately I knew I had to go somewhere English speaking because I was too scared to travel alone to a foreign language country on what would be my second big overseas trip going farther than Australia. I needed a place easy enough to go to for a couple of weeks, and with Europe being a far off dream in which I hoped to travel around for months, I turned to America. I booked it at the beginning of this year after deliberating where to visit, and today I got back from my whirlwind two weeks tour of the United States of America.

Booking onto a Contiki was a no brainer for me – I knew I couldn’t travel completely on my own, so instead I jumped on board a bus with fifty strangers and we set off (but more about these crazy people in my next blog post). I’d had some preconceived opinions about what the landscape and the culture of America would be like, because I had spent a lot of my life watching the country. America influences our media greatly, and every television fictional or real life show or movie I watched or book I read or even songs I listened to seemed to give away some part of their culture. It was time for me to stop watching and experience it through my own eyes.  

In a strange way what I expected to be great was a let down and what I expected to pass by me were the best bits. I saw a few bits of Los Angeles, including downtown LA and Hollywood, and it seemed a bit rundown to me as I’d always imagined this place to be very glamorous. But in contrast, San Diego seemed fresh and full of life, and was my favourite city we visited. We went through a few really cool in places in Arizona then onto the stunning Grand Canyon. Las Vegas was intense and full of a weird energy I’m not sure I liked. Yosemite National Park was a beautiful little place perfect for relaxing. And San Francisco was the upbeat, contemporary city it promised to be.  

I could sit here and write down everything I saw in these places and describe the details and tell the quirky little stories about the towns and post photos, but I doubt you'd take much way from that. It’s only by going to USA I’ve learned how another culture works. They drive on the other side of the road and it is terrifying. They have Walmart which secretly I loved very much. Their soda sizes are huge. Their currency works very differently. They have different customs and traditions and it puts you out of place when you first have to acquaint yourself with them. I spent my whole life watching America but when I got there I understood you can’t learn much by just watching. You have to jump head first in and experience the good and the bad and the different for yourself, and realize how much more there is in the world beyond your own little country.

Loyal

“And call me loyal

I'll say you're loyal too. 
I know you're loyal
I feel your loyal truth, 
Call me loyal
I'll hold you loyal too, 
And we are loyal
Keep it that way
Keep it that way girl”

Loyal – Dave Dobbyn

When I first set out to write my blog at the start of 2012 I was daunted by the idea of coming up with a different song each week. I started off knowing what I wanted to write for the first six or so posts, and from there I came up with an idea the week of. However, that year I knew I wanted to dedicate all the May blogs to New Zealand artists in celebration of New Zealand music month. I wrote about established artists, up and coming artists and the Kiwi classic songs, and I was quite proud of that month of writing. You can go back and read the blogs here when you finish this one. Last year I struggled a bit to come up with blogs about Kiwi artists without rehashing all the ideas from the previous year but nevertheless still churned out four New Zealand music themed blogs.

Over the past two years I have developed my radio career and as a result heard more and more about the music industry. I took a paper on it in my final semester at university and learned about the ins and outs of the business, and working in radio naturally leads to discussions on music. I have heard opinions for and against New Zealand music month, and each argument is justified. New Zealand music month started out thirteen years ago as a way to celebrate all things Kiwi music and to encourage radio to play more Kiwi music . However, it seems over the past five years or so we no longer need a month for this push – people are quite capable of breaking into the business associating it with New Zealand Music Month. Look at Lorde, Flight of the Conchords and The Naked and Famous; they rarely associate themselves with May and they are all extremely successful.

After hearing differing opinions I wanted to construct my own and share them with in the best way I know possible, which is on this webpage. This year this will be the only blog I post on the topic of New Zealand music month because I only have one opinion on it. I think it is still relevant but the purpose of it has changed. It is no longer about pushing underground artists up – we have the internet twenty four hours, seven days, twelve months for that, and no longer are our entertainment sources surprised the talent they play is a Kiwi, because slowly but surely we are matching international standards.

May should be the time we consciously think about the music made locally and the way it impacts our culture.  By all means, go to gigs all year around and buy albums no matter which month they are dropped, but use New Zealand Music Month to understand how music made locally and how it reflects this country we live in. You should make time to go searching for a new artist to listen to on a music-sharing system like Spotify or The Audience, and see what this artist is saying about our culture, as I firmly believe the culture you are part of is reflected in your music. I deliberately chose Loyal because I think it sums up this post: keep New Zealand music month because it keeps us loyal to impact music has on our culture.  

The Other Side

“Tonight
Take me to the other side
Sparks fly like the Fourth of July
Just take me to the other side
I see that sexy look in your eyes
And I know we ain’t friends anymore
If we walk down this road
We’ll be lovers for sure
So tonight kiss me like it’s do or die
And take me to the other side”

The Other Side – Jason Derulo

When someone asks what your favourite kind of music is you usually lean towards one genre and can name a list of artists who you like from that one particular genre. Some people are really specific and only like classic rock or 1990’s hip hop and some people, like me, tend to be a lot more generic. Personally I lean towards a lot of softer rock, most of the top 40 pop hits (including boy bands – I love boy bands!) and the odd adult contemporary track. I usually hate on most hip-hop as the music makes me quite uncomfortable, but I really like Jason Derulo. Now, let’s agree Jason Derulo is more of a hip pop kind of guy, but still, liking his music is way outside of my usual music selection.

Last week my girlfriends and I decided to have a girls night and bought tickets to Jason Derulo’s only Auckland show. We had a few wines and dressed up pretty and went out to his show. I am a huge fan of going to concerts but it’s a bit of a risk as your favourite songs might not be good live– I went to see OneRepublic last year and they were terrible. Luckily for the concert goers though Jason Derulo was fantastic live. The best way to describe the show was slick; it transitioned smoothly from song to banter to dancing. The set was simple but very effective and the dancers utilized it by jumping around the three level set up. And the ladies sure did get a treat when Jason and the dancers did some topless pull ups! I’ve been to a lot of concerts with a lot of screaming women, and that moment produced some of the loudest screams.

It was a great night out and I left feeling very buzzed, high after seeing a fantastic show. I like to reflect back on shows and think what really satisfied me (or what I hated if the show went badly) and with Jason Derulo it was that he always stayed right behind the line of trying too hard to be cool. When you listen to music and see shows I think you can easily tell when someone is trying too hard (Justin Bieber is a prime example, though I have never had the misfortune of seeing him live). Jason Derulo, while probably pleased with himself for his fame and hoards of screaming women, actually came across very genuine, funny and looking like he loved what he was doing.

If you ever get a chance to see Jason Derulo live I would recommend you take it. Before the show I was still a bit indecisive about whether I really did like Jason Derulo or if I was just being blindsided by some very catchy music. However, I genuinely like him, his music and his performance, and I knew this was definitely true when I was stoked he sung my favourite song The Other Side twice. As a frequent concert goer I would say Jason Derulo was up there with the best of concerts and that is a big thing for me to say!

Let It Go

“Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore

Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don't care
what they're going to say
Let the storm rage on.
The cold never bothered me anyway”

Let It Go – Idina Menzel

I finally only got around to seeing Frozen a couple of weekends ago, which is surprising given my love for cartoons, princesses and musicals. Frozen is meant to be the Disney movie for this generation, much like The Lion King was for my childhood. I loved the graphics in Frozen and I loved the themes of the story, particularly the ones about true love and facing fears – but I won’t go into it too much because I don’t want to spoil the plot for anyone who hasn’t seen it. I found the characters and storyline a bit ho hum though, and I much preferred Tangled than Frozen. However, if I was going to give this movie one thing to be a generation definer, it is the ballad of a song Let It Go.

In my previous post I wrote about taking what you can before it leaves you, and this write up is kind of a continuation of that. You see, once I had my one moment my life was going to give me and I had said goodbye, I had to do a bit a mental clean out. I had to let go because my time was done with this person and while that was tough to accept, I had to accept it for fear I would lament on it for months and never move on. It wasn’t always easy and every now and again I think of how things could have gone differently and sometimes even think “whyyyyyy did you leave me?!”. But for the most part I have let this aspect of my life go and moved on to new things.  

This is just one example of many things I have let go in my life – we could all name off many things we have successfully let go in our past, whether it be people, regrets, change, fear or disappointment. And while coming to terms with having to let something go can be quite tough, the feeling of letting go is so liberating. As Elsa says, once she has let go of holding back her power she can rise like the break of dawn, test limits and break boundaries, because you never quite know what you are capable of until you let go of what was holding you back.

It’s a bit of a cliché lesson this week but I think it’s one we need to constantly remind ourselves of. Sometimes when you feel stuck in a rut you have to decide what it is you need to let go in order to cleanse yourself of negativity. Frozen really portrays this message well and I really like that about the movie. I would urge you to watch it if you need a bit of a mental lift up. It’s not the only theme Frozen has (I also love the one about finding true love) but it’s the one that stuck with me the most and, as far as Disney movies go, it’s a pretty good one to relate to in real life.

Don't Say Goodnight

“Come on don't say goodnight
With the stars in the sky
Let's wait 'til tomorrow paints the sun across the night
I see love in your eyes
And if you see it in mine
Let's wait 'til tomorrow
Don't say good, say good
Please don't say goodnight”

Don’t Say Goodnight – Hot Chelle Rae

It has been a while since I have obsessively latched onto a song and constantly have it on repeat. While every week or two I come across a new song it usually passes through without being played more than a couple times a day. But every now and again I become attached to song, and lately I have been fixated with Don’t Say Goodnight to the point it gets played about ten times a day.

Generally any attachment I have to song comes from a place of confirmation about a thought I’ve been having. Not long before Don’t Say Goodnight came out I had been thinking exactly about the topic of the song – that is, having a very fun night with someone, but it only being for one night. I write this not to encourage or negate one night stands, but rather reflect back on my own times when I spent just the one night with someone. I openly admit it has happened and I have no regrets about my night life, but I don’t think the fact that it has happened is why I became so attached to Don’t Say Goodnight.

I feel this song talks to me about not only being together for one night, but that one night is the only time you get to be together. You could lament on the fact you will not be together afterwards for whatever reason, or you could just go for it and not go your separate ways until the morning. One night my life went a lot like this song: it was the weekend and we were out blowing some cash when I found out someone was leaving the country the next week. We got drunk and we partied then we went home and forgot tomorrow was coming when we had to say not just goodnight, but goodbye.

I miss that guy a lot, but I think I would miss him so much more if we hadn’t connected that night. I would regret not taking the only chance I had with this person. And like most things I do I made sure I came out with a lesson I can use in my everyday life. Sometimes life will only hand you a small piece of something. You might want a lot more but that one tiny bit is all you are ever going to get. And most of the time it is better to take the small bit and run with for as long as you can, than reject something just because you wanted something whole thing.